You may wonder, “But noun is already a noun and what is the purpose of using こと ( = koto)?”

Let’s find out!

1) personal pronoun + のこと ( = no koto)

You often use のこと ( = no koto) with a person.

A: マギーが好きです。

= Maggie ga suki desu.

B: マギーのことが好きです。

= Maggie no koto ga suki desu.

They both mean “I love/like Maggie.” but A) is just a direct object, “Maggie” and sounds more pinpointed.

B) sounds more indirect/abstract and slightly softer.

マギーのこと ( = Maggie no koto) means “things about Maggie”/“who Maggie is” which involves her nice personality, things she does, her beautiful appearance, her greatness or her whole existence.

(→Maggie told me to emphasize this point. )

If you ask someone if he/she remembers you, you say:

C: 私を覚えていますか？

＝ Watashi wo oboete imasu ka?

D: 私のことを覚えていますか？

= Watashi no koto wo oboete imasu ka?

They both mean “Do you remember me?” but 私 ( = watashi) is just an direct object, “me” but 私のこと( = watashi no koto) implies things about me, who I am, and it implies certain memories of one’s experiences in some situations.

If you ask someone if he/she is mad at you, you ask

E: 私に怒ってるの？

= Watashi ni okotteru no?

= Are you mad at ME?

Trying to make clear who you are mad at.

Or

F: 私のこと怒ってるの？

= Watashi no koto okotteru no?

= “Are you mad at what I did to you/Are you angry at things I did to you?”

17 Comments

これ、詳しく説明にくいかもしれないけど…
それら例文で「が/を」の代わりに「も」は「勉強」と「彼」に付いている理由を説明してもらえませんか？
This may be difficult to fully explain but, could you explain why in these sentences the partical も is attached to 彼 and 勉強 instead of say が or を?

「彼も謝った」は英語で「He’s also apologised」だから、リスナーも謝ったという意味ですか？そうでなければ、教えて下さい。よろしくお願いします。
Since「彼も謝った」means 「he also apologised」, does that imply the listener has also apologised? If not, please tell.
Thank you.

Hello, doesn’t really have anything to do with the subject i would like some help.
この文と大体同じ意味の文があります is supposed to mean “There is a sentence that means basically the same thing as this sentence”, but why use と in this sentence ? Souldn’t it be は ?